About 58.5 million people worldwide. That's the number of people who have been diagnosed with arthritis so far.1
The high percentage of arthritic patients is not the problem, but the fact that currently existing treatment options are consistently outpaced by the debilitating symptoms that they must endure.
Imagine stiffness, inflammation, weakness, restricted movement, and unbearable pain meets its alternative of pain killers, physical therapy, and surgeries.
As disappointing as this sounds, we take solace in the discoveries and advancements of science that come bearing new possibilities with it every day.
Luckily, a new candidate for arthritic patients that's been getting all the hype for the past decade and that's 'Carbon 60' also known as 'C60'.
Carbon 60 or C60 is a type of Fullerene. To the name, it consists of 60 Carbon atoms bound together, giving the shape of a soccer ball that's both empty and hollow inside.2
As first discovered in 1996 by Robert F. Curl Jr., Harold Karoto, and Richard E. Smalley and subsequently awarded the Nobel Prize. Historically, it was utilized in electronics but has since proved some benefits in medical applications as well.3
Owing to its antioxidant properties, the health benefits of C60 have been investigated for therapeutic purposes in many conditions. Those include:
Evidently, the literature is filled with multiple research studies to determine the efficacy and safety of C60 as a therapeutic agent. But since our topic today is for arthritic patients, we've gathered all the information about C60's link with arthritis.
As Charles Kettering once put it — "A Problem Well Stated is Half Solved."
This tells us that to find the best solution to a problem; you need to look at the root cause of the problem first.
Fortunately, this is how the scientific method works, and this is how C60 began shining like a new contender in treating arthritis and other diseases.
To put it simply, C60 is an antioxidant, and one of the risk factors of Osteoarthritis is free radicals and oxidative stress.
Since antioxidants eliminate free radicals and reduce oxidative stress, chances are they can play a role in treating arthritis.
In 2007, a study done on rabbits who received C60 fullerenes for 4-8 weeks revealed favorable results indicating that C60 is a promising therapeutic candidate capable of protecting cartilage and bones against the aggressive progression of Osteoarthritis.4
Similarly, in another study done on rats in 2019, C60 was administered for eight weeks. The results came back positive advocating for the benefits of using C60 as a therapeutic agent for arthritis due to its great results in reducing inflammation of the synovial fluid (fluid between joints that eases movement without friction) while strengthening bones and protecting them.5
As for Rheumatoid arthritis, studies have also promoted the use of non-modified C60 in clinics for rheumatoid arthritis treatment where it has shown great results in inhibiting arthritis, managing its inflammation and its potential to be used as an assessment tool for diagnosis as well by physicians.6,7
In addition, a literature review study done in 2020 has concluded that C60 targets several mechanisms that cause Osteoarthritis in treating its patients. However, they also encourage further investigations to determine its toxicity and safety.8
Currently, C60 is considered a cosmetic product rather than a medication. It can be found through e-commerce websites and online carriers in many forms:
As for the recommended dosage, this should be determined by your doctor and on the specific product, you plan to consume. Although, several C60 manufacturers recommend around 5 ml or 4 mg once a day.
Thus, taking into consideration several factors, including your age, medical history, allergies, body weight, drug interactions, and intended use.
So far, there have been no reports of adverse events or side effects as a result of using C60 for health conditions.9
Granted, all the scientific information we have right now is the outcome of animal studies, not human studies. Additionally, there's a need to conduct clinical trials to determine the safety of C60 in humans.
But as it stands, so far, so good for C60 on the no-risk front.
Nevertheless, owing to the lack of studies done on C60 on pregnant and breastfeeding women, they are better off excluded from trying it.
Aside from medical talk, scientific literature, and research studies. If you google C60 online, you will find a huge number of patient testimonials and user reviews describing their experience with C60.10
On the one hand, some say it has worked wonders for them, giving them a lot of benefits with relatively no cons, but on the other hand, some reviews describe some patients finding it useless with no effect.
Coinciding with everything in life, each person's experience will be different. The question remains:
Should you try C60 or not? That depends on many factors that can be determined cautiously by your healthcare professional, which is why it's crucial to always follow the advice of your doctor as they will know how to customize the best treatment plan for you.
The hype about the health benefits of C60 in treating arthritis is warranted, but there's a need for studies to demonstrate the long-term effect of using it. When that happens, C60 is guaranteed to improve the quality of life of arthritic patients.
It's only a matter of time before we have a new competent and effective treatment option on our hands.
